Facebook iOS Update: Very, Very, Very Good

If you haven’t updated Facebook on your iPhone yet, do it now.

I was skeptical this morning when I saw the news that the the company was releasing a “faster” iOS app. Like all of you I’ve sort of forgotten that Facebook even had a mobile version, because trying to access the mobile site or app just put my iPhone at extreme risk of being thrown through the nearest window. I’m not exaggerating, it was awful and you know all know it. I often said it was the company’s Achilles Heel, and a self inflicted one at that.

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29 thoughts on “Facebook iOS Update: Very, Very, Very Good”

I wish they’d do something about the Android app. It’s laggy, slow, and unstable, even on the google issued nexus devices. I understand when nickel and dime publishers can’t support the entire list of devices that can run Android, but Facebook is a big company, and Android is a big segment of the market. Bigger than iOS, last time I checked.

They used to have a native app that was better than the trash on there now. The HTML5 based iPhone and Android apps were their attempt to cheap it up but they eventually realized it wasn’t worth degrading the experience. I assume/hope the Android app will follow suit shortly & go back to full-native.

I think Facebook’s choice to go with HTML5 had more to do with their coding methodology than cutting corners or “cheaping it up” as you say. You gotta realize that Facebook is probably one of the most effective platforms out there in terms of A / B Split testing on a massive scale, affecting hundreds of millions of users. A recent article said that they push out new code twice a day. Twice a day!! This allows Facebook to test different code, and see how users react on a grand scale. In this regard, I think it makes total sense that they would want to use a platform (HTML5) with awesome cross-platform support, allowing them to push out these changes without having to make specific code for each specific platform. Of course, the tradeoff being the performance (and to some extent) the look and feel compared to Native App’s. So they made a switch, but like everything, even with Native App’s there are still tradeoff’s. I imagine moving to a Native App impacts Facebooks ability to maintain the same momentum with regards to A / B Split testing. End result is that this might potentially impact our user experience (UX) over time as rolling out new code now requires specific code changes for each specific platform (increasing the work load exponentially).

I like the new app. It is way faster.
But I disagree with your last point. Facebook never left the mobile game. Everywhere I looked, people where still using Facebook’s mobile apps. People didn’t mind the slowness, Facebook is where they wanted to go and so they did.
With this update, Facebook now understands that they need a snappy app not for today, when they reign but for tomorrow, when they might be challenged.
PS: They can now show more adds without people being so bothered by them, cause, you know, it’s fast!!

Agree with Mike. Fb is so ubiquitous in most daily lives–incl. all the plug-ins and Fb Connect APIs that boomerang us back–that people *begrudgingly* used the crummy web & native apps because we had no other choice. Yes, people including me DID mind the slowness, bugs, crashing & lack of key functionalities (e.g. inability to tag people in status updates).

I wouldn’t say that the fb app they released today is the one that prepares them to reign tomorrow. It’s (hopefully) the app that gets them to the quality mobile experience they should have launched a long time ago.

My wife is noting that there is also an update to their Android app though whether it is a just a minor update or as major as the iOS update is less clear. I like the new iOS app (no longer as frustrating to use) but I’m still really puzzled that actions like resharing something from my news feed aren’t there (or if they are it isn’t at all clear how to do it) and overall the app while fast still seems to lack many things

I think it’s very likely there are no philosophical reasons they made the switch, but more specifically performance reasons. HTML5 is awesome, allowing us (Dev’s) to build Mobile Web App’s that almost look the same as a Native App (or do look the same with enough effort). But in my opinion it’s still at the point where for the most part, it does not provide the same performance as a Native App (at least not without Tweaking it). I believe this is especially true when the App is complex, like the Facebook App. There are issues with smooth scrolling, smooth transitions, and delays when tapping, among other things. All this stuff combined can make a complex Mobile Web App perform slower than a Native App, and just feel somewhat unresponsive. But this is not to say that it will be like this forever. There are some great minds in the community working on Javascript / CSS Tweaks that will eventually allow Mobile Web App’s to perform similarly to Native ones. Of course, it will also depend on what browser people use. I think Facebook made a good move. Mobile Web App’s are still being perfected, with Native App’s being the target. Native App’s are already there. For a company that has millions of user and a complex App, it was a no brainer to go Native. Maybe at some point in the near future the technology will progress to the point where the User does not know the difference. I hope so anyway, because I’m a huge HTML5 supporter.

I was on my “Reader” and came across this. I had no idea of the new FB App update until now. In all honesty, throwing my two cents in, I don’t think they were ever out of the mobile game. The old app was awful, don’t get me wrong but most people I know with iOS or Android just use their browser to go on the ridiculously addictive site.

PS.
I did update, WAY BETTER, way faster. Thank you for letting me know it was out there and good.

I was jumping up and down when this was released. Really enjoy the whole “flick” function when viewing photos, I can now use Facebook with one hand without attempting to reach for corners on my iPhone!

Yeah, it’s faster. But you no longer have the ability to use landscape text entry mode (a deal breaker for me), and you STILL can’t re-share posts or photos. I also have to wonder why you can’t log-in as your ‘Page’ if you have one – forcing you to use their horrible Pages* app.